North Central Illinois | NDCat99 - 6/7/2024 08:22
Do you have any financial comparisons between the cost to run the tiller (only one pass needed I assume) vs. multiple passes with conventional tools? Sometimes those operations that seem painfully inefficient (running a tiller) are actually faster overall than making 2-4 passes with other equipment using larger tractors, more fuel, etc. Tillers have a lot of moving parts but everything else has wear parts being replaced also.
I wouldn't guess either way how the numbers look but I'd be interested if you have any data.
My standard practice is hit once with the tiller and after it sits for 7-14 days run once with the field cultivator ahead of the planter.
As for cost, fuel and time requirements are pretty similar to a moldboard plow. I figure a pass with the tiller costs $30/acre and a pass with the field cultivator or disk costs $12 for my budgets. Disk twice and field cultivate once is cheaper, but gotta make the first pass when the cover crop is smaller. Also, the tiller is my go to to get the weeds that were under the wheat canopy dead so I can plant a double crop in a clean field in one pass.
As for machine cost, I've run enough acres through it that purchase price divided by acres covered is <$10/acre. Farm from worn out though I'll probably need a set of blades in a few years.
|
Does anyone rototill a lot of acres?
